Produced on the occasion of Josef Strau’s exhibition at Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen, Düsseldorf, 3 September–22 November, 2020, the first comprehensive institutional solo exhibition by Strau in Germany.

The exhibition brought together objects and text production made between 1991 and 2020 as an attempt to create an autobiographical depot, as if these objects were simply the result of time or of durations of psychological states, such as fear and anxiety, and sometimes also of desire. Strau’s complex, nested retrospective vessel contains, in addition to everyday stories, a random selection of objects representing, among other things, tigers, temples, tears, fences, children’s letters, angels, icons, and cured turtles. The most recent work is a spider clock, The 13 Hour Cymbal Spiderclock that exhales the Dreams, which announces a new time beyond the usual twelve hours.

Marc Camille Chaimowicz subtly intervenes in the gallery space, altering the atmosphere and décor of the environment. This catalogue, devised in collaboration with the graphic designer Adeline Morlon, reflects his working method, developing quiet, multi-perspective views of a spatial installation. Chaimowicz’s environments embrace the domestic sphere, incorporating interior design, ceramics, wallpaper and textiles. The exhibition at Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen documented in this book shows works spanning the years 1975 to 2005 and includes objects, drawings, photo collages and paintings.

‘Spaces and their potentialities of allowing ideas to come into being forms the central pillar of interest for the artist Marc Camille Chaimowicz… for the first time ever in a German institution, he has realized his ideas in a richly faceted manner and shown his work to an interested and curious audience.’—Rita Kersting